An existing method to perform a medication injection delivers a drug substance into the subcutaneous region of the skin. It is possible that the same device may be used to delivery an intramuscular and a subcutaneous injection, with the health care provider controlling the depth of the injection.
Techniques and devices are known for administering an injection into the intradermal region of the skin. One method, commonly referred to as the Mantoux technique, uses a “standard” syringe, i.e., a syringe typically used to administer intramuscular or subcutaneous injections. The health care provider administering the injection follows a specific procedure that requires a somewhat precise orientation of the syringe with regard to the patient's skin as the injection is administered. The health care provider must also attempt to precisely control the penetration depth of the needle into the patient's skin to ensure that it does not penetrate beyond the intradermal region. Such a technique is complicated, difficult to administer, and often may only be administered by an experienced health care professional.
As advances in understanding the delivery of drug proceeds, the use of intradermal delivery systems is expected to increase. Use of a “standard” length needle to deliver a drug substance intradermally has its shortcomings, as noted above. It is not possible to use a delivery device having a needle length suited for intradermal injection to aspirate a syringe with drug substance from a multi-use vial. Thus, there are shortcomings in the prior art that prevent administering an intradermal injection using a “standard” length needle and a multi-use vial. It would be advantageous to have a drug delivery device capable of accessing substances stored in multi-dose vials and delivering such substances into the intradermal region of the skin without encountering the shortcomings described above.
A conventional syringe 101 is shown in FIG. 1. The needle 103 is sufficiently long to aspirate a drug from a vial and deliver the drug to the subcutaneous region of the skin. However, a user would not be able to easily deliver the drug to the intradermal region of the skin, as discussed above. Thus, a need exists for a syringe adapted to facilitate an intradermal medication injection.
Another problem with providing syringes with needles having the appropriate length for intradermal delivery, which is approximately between 0.5-3 mm and preferably approximately between 1.5-2 mm, is that standard vials cannot be used because the septum thickness is thicker than the length of the needle. Therefore, such a syringe is prevented from being filled from a vial. Thus, a need exists for a syringe having a standard commercial needle length to be utilized for filling from a vial and also adapted to facilitate an intradermal medication injection.
Accordingly, a need exists for a needle adjusting member for a syringe that facilitates an intradermal medication injection.